Prospective 4th gen buyer - New guy questions

[762_NateOh]

Hey all, hope this is the right place to put this. Be easy on me!

Current truck
2004 TRD Prerunner
200,000mi
Owned it for 14 years - its been a great truck.

Prospective Truck
2024 TRD Off Road Premium Hybrid
9000mi
5' bed

Usecase/plans
I live in FL, so no real cold weather considerations. Mostly city driving, short trips. I don't drive much due to work travel. ~ 5000mi a year. Stays garaged and sporadic periods of 2-6weeks where it sits without use. Only real mods planned would be 33-34" tires with new wheels, maybe some aesthetic things. Light camping, trails, shooting type offroading.

Few questions:

1. I had heard concerns when the hybrids sat for longer periods having a hard time starting. Any insight into that? I'd be concerned if it struggled less than a week, but a few weeks or more I could understand and could use a tender.
2. Related to #1 - the 2024's didn't seem to have alternators but some later models did. All the research I did seemed like speculation. Has this been an issue for anyone? Worth it to hold out for one with an alternator? Don't plan on much Aux use at all, maybe one lightbar in the front.
3. Any general concerns with a 20204 hybrid? As evidenced by my current truck I hold onto things for awhile. The deal is decent with the original owner taking some depreciation so if I'm unhappy with it in a few years I suspect I could offload it.

Thanks guys - looking to be a 4G owner soon(ish)

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[CharlotteBlue]

I have a 24 off road premium hybrid and I do 1 - 2 week stints working onsite all over the world. I haven’t had any issue with the battery coming back, either when I leave it at home or at the airport. My understanding is there was a bad batch of low voltage batteries in the first hybrid run, Toyota tested/replaced some. If you do have problems with it not starting up after a week or two of sitting, I’d ask the dealer to test the battery. If I was doing a 6 week deployment, I’d probably think about setting up a battery tender.

I bought mine used from a Honda dealer 6 months ago with 9000 miles, currently at 14000 and no real problems or issues. Only complaints are a backup safety system that occasionally sees things that aren’t there and slams on the brakes and that the factory Toyota trifold blocks the rear mirror camera and slides around a bit. Otherwise has been great as a daily commuter and some light construction equipment towing.

if you are doing more off-roading and keeping the factory suspension, consider putting some top hat braces on. I understand some of initial 24’s TRD OR’s had top hat failures. Although toyota fixes the shocks under warranty, if you don’t want to deal with it the Icon brace kit is like $70 and 15 minutes to install.

 

[minjaeisgone]

i have 24 trailhunter. i drive it solely for offroading and camping so it sits most of the week and only gets driven on weekends. i also travel alot so it sits for 2-3 weeks every other month. Have had it for about 18 months now with ~6000miles. No issues yet.

 

[762_NateOh]

Thanks for the input gents. I went ahead and got it.
Had to go 4hrs to pick it up and I was grinning the whole drive back.

This thing is incredible. I suppose that's a normal reaction when you upgrade trucks 20 yrs apart

Now I just have to get those wheels/tires swapped out!

 

[franx]

I have a 2025 Limited Hybrid that I bought March 2025 (currently ~5600 miles). Just replaced the battery under warranty in January 2026. Its not a daily driver, but I do drive it usually once a week. Now the truck has me paranoid about a dead battery again leaving me stranded so I bought a battery jump starter and keep it in the truck just in case. Not happy about needing to do that for a new truck.

 

[webshot]

Hey all, hope this is the right place to put this. Be easy on me!

Current truck
2004 TRD Prerunner
200,000mi
Owned it for 14 years - its been a great truck.

Prospective Truck
2024 TRD Off Road Premium Hybrid
9000mi
5' bed

Usecase/plans
I live in FL, so no real cold weather considerations. Mostly city driving, short trips. I don't drive much due to work travel. ~ 5000mi a year. Stays garaged and sporadic periods of 2-6weeks where it sits without use. Only real mods planned would be 33-34" tires with new wheels, maybe some aesthetic things. Light camping, trails, shooting type offroading.

Few questions:

1. I had heard concerns when the hybrids sat for longer periods having a hard time starting. Any insight into that? I'd be concerned if it struggled less than a week, but a few weeks or more I could understand and could use a tender.
2. Related to #1 - the 2024's didn't seem to have alternators but some later models did. All the research I did seemed like speculation. Has this been an issue for anyone? Worth it to hold out for one with an alternator? Don't plan on much Aux use at all, maybe one lightbar in the front.
3. Any general concerns with a 20204 hybrid? As evidenced by my current truck I hold onto things for awhile. The deal is decent with the original owner taking some depreciation so if I'm unhappy with it in a few years I suspect I could offload it.

Thanks guys - looking to be a 4G owner soon(ish)

For me personally I found the numbers on the hybrid were not that impressive over the regular gas Tacoma.

in a "Limited" trim comparison...

Hybrid...

• Curb weight is about 475 heavier
• Only gains you about 3 MPG
• Cost over $3300 more
• Introduced electrical systems that could complicate repairs down the road
• Generally hits 60 mph in roughly 7.1 to 7.6 seconds. While the hybrid boasts significantly more torque, the added weight of the battery can make its acceleration similar or slightly slower than the gas-only version in some testing.

Gas...

• the gas model boasts higher payload/towing capacities.
• Accelerates to 60 mph in approximately 7.0 to 7.6 seconds.

Good luck with your choice!

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